


Be our Guest!

by Brownieboi9800



Series: Stray Kids Fairytales [5]
Category: ATEEZ (Band), GOT7, ITZY (Band), NCT (Band), Stray Kids (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Beauty and the Beast Elements, Character Death, Everyone Is Gay, Fae & Fairies, Hybrids, Jackson Wang In Love, Lee Minho | Lee Know Is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Multi, Sad Im Jaebum | JB, Shy Kang Yeosang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29803212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brownieboi9800/pseuds/Brownieboi9800
Summary: MinSung Beauty and the Beast AuOrEveryone loves Lee Felix (feat stressed Lee Taeyong and Park Jinyoung)
Relationships: Bang Chan/Hwang Hyunjin, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Im Jaebum | JB/Mark Tuan, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong/Nakamoto Yuta, Kim Namjoon | RM/Kim Seokjin | Jin, Kim Taehyung | V/Park Jimin, Lee Felix/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Park Jinyoung/Jackson Wang
Series: Stray Kids Fairytales [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2059401
Comments: 10
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hellllooooo!
> 
> So my phone deleted the entire Cinderella Au I had written and so I cried and wrote this instead. :) 
> 
> As always this is a LGBTQ+ space so if you don’t like that then the door is here x 
> 
> Disclaimer: The characters and stories do not represent my personal opinions or ships as I simply use my favourite kpop artists as inspiration :) 
> 
> Hope you enjoy x

Minho POV 

It was early morning when Minho woke up, rolling out of bed with a groan and squinting at the light coming through the window.  
Already the smell of baking bread had filled the house and he hurriedly pulled on his clothes to grab breakfast. 

His younger brother, Felix, was humming a tune as he kneaded the dough on the small counter by the stone oven. Beside him, Taeyong was busy icing cupcakes to go in the shop window and keeping an eye on the blue flames cooking the bread. 

Minho went straight to the wooden dining table and grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl, ruffling WinWin’s hair as he did. His nephew waved but didn’t look up from his colouring, happy to sit quietly and calmly. 

Chenle on the other hand.... the youngest family member was currently standing on his tiptoes and swiping pink icing off the cupcakes when Taeyong wasn’t looking.  
Minho grinned. 

Quietly, he crept up behind Chenle and grabbed him, swinging the seven year old around in the air, making him squeal.  
With a laugh, he turned Chenle so that they were facing one another and raised an eyebrow at his guilty face. 

“And what do you think you’re doing, mister?” He asked, a smile appearing on his face. 

Chenle giggled and hugged him tightly.  
“Nothing.”  
“Nothing, huh?”

The little faerie dissolved in laughter as Minho began to tickle him, squirming around to try and escape.  
Eventually, he put the kid down and chuckled under his breath as Chenle ran behind Taeyong’s legs with a giggle. 

“Can’t catch me, Mimi!” Taunted the boy, sticking out his tongue.  
Minho raised his eyebrow again and held up five fingers.  
Four.  
Three. 

With a shrill shriek, Chenle ran for the door into the front of the shop, grabbing his brothers hand as he went. 

“I’ll take them out for a bit,” Minho said, looking at his brothers. “Do we need anything?”  
Taeyong looked up from his icing and nodded towards the far counter where a basket sat. 

“List is inside. Thanks Mimi!” 

Minho chucked his apple into the basket for later and walked out of the bakery kitchen. 

The front of the shop was fairly busy despite the early morning and a handful of people were looking around the freshly baked goods.  
The owner of the bakery, Jaebeom was standing behind the counter where the money drawer was kept, talking with customers.  
Two kids were hiding behind his legs. 

Although he had to have been up since four to have the bread ready to sell, Jaebeom looked fairly awake, pointed ears alert and he smiled when he spotted Minho.  
It was a warm smile.. but as always was tinged with sadness from his eyes. 

Years ago, Jaebeom had been engaged with Minho’s eldest brother, Mark... until he’d caught a contagious illness along with their parents.  
They had to flee their old village and ended up in a human one along the border between human and fae lands. 

Taeyong had suddenly become the oldest of three while pregnant with his second child (his partners had also caught the disease) and in a world that didn’t know they existed. 

Luckily, Jaebeom had insisted on coming with them and started a small bakery business with the little money he’d brought with him. They’d been here ever since. 

He really was grateful to the elf and regarded him as close as a brother. Sometimes though it was hard to look at the sadness constantly reflected in those eyes - especially when none of them had proper memories of their life in the Fae Realm, just jumbled up flashes of smiles, magic and a brother who’d loved them more than anything. 

They assumed it was a side effect of leaving the Fae lands. Minho couldn’t decide if it was a blessing or not. 

“Morning, Mimi,” the elf said cheerfully, shaking Minho from his thoughts.  
“You looking for these little monsters?”

Both kids hiding behind him let out cries of protest.  
“Jaebeomieeeee!”  
“We were HIDING!”  
The elf just laughed. 

“I’m going into the market,” announced Minho, patting his basket. “If you don’t wreck havoc we can go to Seungmin’s afterwards, okay?”

“SEUNGMINNIE!” Chorused both kids, running for the door with blinding grins. 

“Oi! Wait for me!”  
Minho sighed and looked back at Jaebeom who just shrugged as if to say ‘that’s your problem.”

“Good luck, Mimi. And be back for half eleven for your shift!”  
“Will do. Bye!”

The trio through the village was the same as normal. The bakery stood away from the main square but was close enough that within minutes they’d arrived where all the main shops were. 

A small fountain sat in the centre, surrounded by colourful market stalls that covered the square like a patchwork quilt.  
Following after the kids at a much slower pace, Minho visited the vegetable stall, the meat stall and the milk stall.  
He even bought flowers from Miss Lisa to brighten up the bakery window. 

Before the kids could start complaining however, he crossed to the far side where the tiny village bookshop was squished in beside the apothecary and pushed open the creaky door. 

It was an extremely old building with paint peeling off the sign outside but Minho smiled as he entered. It was his favourite place to visit. 

The familiar smell of books and drying ink hit him as he walked past the old shelves, reaching for anything that caught his eye. Not that there were many books in here that he hadn’t read yet. 

His search was quickly stopped though as Chenle let out yet another squeal and ran towards the ancient desk half hidden behind a stack of books. 

“SEUNGMINNIE!”

“Ah,” drawled the bookkeeper. “If it isn’t my favourite two faeries!”

As the only other Fae they knew of within the next twenty miles, Seungmin had become close friends with them over time despite being slightly hesitant at first. 

The elf had also fled from a similar illness from he lived and had lost his brother and sister as well. However, an old human lady had taken him in and when she’d died a year or so ago, he’d inherited the bookshop. He had a knack for telling stories and babysat the kids all the time. 

Seungmin was one of Minho’s best friends. 

Minho huffed and put on a fake air of hurt, placing the back of his hand dramatically against his forehead.  
“Oh the betrayal,” he cried, earning an eye roll and small smile from his friend. “And here I thought that I was your favourite!”

Chenle and WinWin giggled at his dramatics and turned back to the bookkeeper. 

“Seungminnie,” said WinWin. “Can you tell us a story please?” 

Minho grinned and sat down on a rickety old chair, placing his basket on the table beside him. It was only half eight. He had time. 

~

Okay. So maybe he lost track of time. When Minho woke up (he must have fallen asleep - in his defence he’d stayed up late cleaning the kitchen), he was already five minutes late for his shift and WinWin was stacking books into towers. 

“Oh my god, IM LATE!”  
He jumped up from his chair, grabbing the basket that weighed more than he remembered (WinWin had apparently borrowed some books) and ran for the door. 

Wait.  
Basket? Check.  
Kids? Nope. 

“Okay, guys,” he called back into the bookshop desperately. “Time to go!”

WinWin sighed heavily and got up from the floor. Chenle however was curled up on a cushion with Soonie, Seungmin’s cat, and looked so peaceful that Minho hesitated to wake him. 

Thankfully Seungmin (who was now stacking WinWin’s books back onto shelves) shook his head.  
“You go, Mimi. I’ll bring him back round when he’s awake.”

Nodding, Minho sprinted out the shop, his nephew racing after him. The amount of people seemed to have doubled since this morning and it was a fight to get through the crowd swarming the market stalls. 

Cursing, Minho began to shove through yelling back apologies as he knocked into someone. 

“Mama said that’s a naughty word,” piped up WinWin and Minho rolled his eyes. Great. Now Taeyong was going to kill him as well as Jaebeom. 

“No It’s just an adult word,” he replied quickly. “Only for adults to.. ah shit.. sorry!”

The woman he’d bumped into turned round with a look of utter disgust.. until she realised who it was and her face changed to a sickly smile that made Minho gag.  
Of course.  
Of fucking course. 

The day had gone from bad to worse. 

“Minho!” Trilled the woman, twirling a lock of black hair around her finger. “How lovely to see you!”

“Miss Ryujin.”  
The fake smile he plastered on his face was fooling nobody but Ryujin just stepped closer, the hem of her red dress brushing his shoes. 

The gaggle of friends that followed her everywhere were standing a few feet away, whispering to themselves. The only one Minho knew by name was Miss Lia who was quite clever and nice to talk to... if without Ryujin. 

Minho only caught snippets of the girls conversation but he caught the words ‘Spring Ball’.  
Oh hell no. 

Straightening himself up, he grabbed WinWin’s hand and prepared to run. “It’s nice to see you too,” he lied. “But I’m quite busy today so...”

“Oh it’s been ages since I’ve seen you,” exclaimed Ryujin, cutting across him. “I was worried you’d run off somewhere!”

She (and all the girls behind her) began to laugh daintily and it took all of Minho’s willpower not to roll his eyes. 

“I saw you yesterday, Miss Ryujin,” he answered curtly. “When you mistakenly assumed the bakery sold ‘shoelaces’.”

That had been embarrassing.  
Until then he’d managed to keep the young lady’s strange infatuation as a secret that only Felix and Seungmin knew about but Ryujin turning up at the bakery had changed that very quickly. 

He’d been extremely close to asking Taeyong to set her dress on fire so he could chuck water at her. 

“Yes Well..”  
“Miss Ryujin, I’m afraid I’m very busy so if you’d excuse me, I have to go.”

The lady smiled again and reached into her handbag, pulling out a small envelope and handing it to him with a giggle. 

“Here. I have an invitation for you. It’s for the Spring Ball in a few months. Now, I’ll be round tomorrow with some spare fabric from my dress so that your outfit can match.”

“Um.. What?!”

Ryujin just giggled irritatingly again and ran a finger down his chest, leaning forward.  
For a horrifying moment, Minho thought she was going to kiss him but she just smiled and drew back. 

“See you tomorrow!”

He watched in disbelief as she flounced off, her friends following behind her like sheep.  
What the fuck?

“Um Mimi?”  
Still processing whatever the hell just happened, Minho looked down at his nephew who was staring ahead at the bakery.  
“Yes?”  
“Um. Does Jaebeomie look annoyed to you?”

Minho gulped and looked up to see his friend and boss standing in the bakery door with his arms crossed and one foot tapping.  
The town hall clock chiming twelve sealed his fate.  
Shit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter  
> :)

Felix POV 

Felix finished the last batch of bread not long after Minho had taken the kids round to Seungmin’s and quickly excused himself. 

Taeyong barely looked up from his careful icing but yelled after him to be back for dinner as he slipped out the back door. 

He ran along the path leading away from the village, glancing back to see if anyone was following him and ducked into the forest beyond the village boundary line. 

Technically, he wasn’t supposed to be here.  
His older brothers had always gone on about how the woods were dangerous and you shouldn’t go in alone.. but Felix wanted to practise magic and he couldn’t do that in the village. 

That was the problem when you lived in a place where the Fae were a myth to be told as a scary story to naughty children.  
The villagers already saw them as outcasts - foreigners who could never quite fit in - and often gossiped about Jaebeom’s pointed ears and how Taeyong’s broken leg healed over night (thanks to Minho) when gossip grew scarce. 

And so Felix felt as though he was forced to practise out here, where the only witnesses were the birds and squirrels that gathered in the surrounding trees to watch him. 

He obviously hadn’t told his brothers - he didn’t want them to worry. (He was nineteen for goodness sake, not a baby!)

And if he went further and further into the forest each time then no one had to know. It’s not like he was defenceless. 

Inside a hollow tree, Felix pulled out the old spell books he’d borrowed from Seungmin and started his search for a space to practise. 

Soon he came across a large clearing, covered in flowers and grass and settled under an old oak tree, skirt fanned out beneath him.  
For hours he read through his books, practising any spell or charm that caught his eye on the flowers around him, alone except for a curious squirrel that scurried down its tree to stare at him. 

Once all the plants around him were reaching over his head, he began to wander around, straying out of the clearing in search of any flowers that needed help. 

He spotted a patch of daisies half hidden under a tree root and knelt in the grass by them, ignoring the stains that Taeyong would scold him for later. 

As he concentrated on the spell, he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone or something was watching him... but when he glanced around there was nothing but trees and sunlight. 

Must be the squirrel from earlier.  
He shrugged and went back to his work. 

Then he heard a twig snap and a low growl that made his blood chill echoed off the trees.  
Felix leapt to his feet, head whipping around to see what it was but there was nothing. 

A loud snap of teeth made him jump, falling backwards over the tree root and he shrieked as he braced for the impact of hard ground... 

But it never came.  
Instead, the warm tingle of magic ran across his skin and then he landed in a pile of snow.  
Felix stared at the snow in confusion, barely feeling it as it soaked into his skirt, shivering at the freezing air.  
What the hell? 

A few metres ahead, the world was still green and summery, the daisies he’d been helping swaying in a warm breeze.  
But as though an invisible line had been drawn through the forest, everything Felix’s side was winter. 

He reached forward, squinting as a barely visible gold wall of magic appeared in front of him. Felix reached forward, expecting his fingers to pass straight through but they hit the shield like a brick wall and bounced off. 

Shit.  
That wasn’t good. 

The snow crunched behind him and Felix swung round with sudden fear flooding his heart. 

It was a wolf.  
But unlike the ones that passed through the village occasionally, this one was massive with razor sharp teeth and raven coloured fur. Felix swallowed dry as it padded forward and cocked its head curiously at him. 

Despite its size, it didn’t appear dangerous.. and there was a strange glint in its eyes that confused Felix.  
As though it recognised him... 

A loud howl sounded and a second wolf with silver fur leapt out of the trees making Felix recoil, pressing himself against the shield.  
The wolves appeared to communicate and if he wasn’t so scared, he’d wonder why they didn’t just eat him now.. or why the second wolf had a blanket. 

He’d just decided on trying to slip away but then three more wolves ran into the clearing and Felix’s jaw dropped.  
If the other wolves were unusually large, these three were the size of horses... and the front two were snarling aggressively. 

Not wanting to be ripped to pieces, Felix turned back, desperately hitting the golden shield to get back into the warm safety of summer. He suddenly wished he’d listened to Taeyong and stayed out of the forest. 

Sharp teeth closed around the collar of his shirt and he screamed as he was dragged backwards through the snow. 

Kicking and twisting, he cried out but there was no escape as he was pulled onto the blanket and placed in the middle. 

Felix scrambled up to run as the wolf let go of his shirt but it just huffed and placed a heavy paw on his chest and gave a look as if to say ‘just stay still’.

The look of pity and recognition in the wolf’s eyes made him obey out of shock.. but as the corners of the blankets were pulled over him, he began to kick and thrash again. 

Then the entire world tilted and the faerie shrieked, the blanket swaying as it was lifted upwards.  
He could hear the wolves barking and howling as though speaking and then the blanket lurched forwards, making him shriek again. 

Felix curled up in a ball in the darkness, hugging his knees.  
Where the hell were they taking him? 

~

The little squirrel squeaked as the nice faerie with the flowers disappeared as he fell backwards and he scurried forwards to investigate. 

A loud scream sounded but he couldn’t see the faerie. 

Only a charm was left behind, in the pile of daisies and the faerie’s books. The squirrel heard another scream. 

Grabbing the charm, the tiny creature sniffed it and followed the scent back out of the woods, running towards a little human village to find help.


	3. Chapter 3

Minho POV 

The sun had begun to sink in the sky and Minho was exhausted. After being late for his shift, he had to sort through the giant bags of flour in the barn behind the house and then was sent out around the village to deliver bread and pastries to the richer inhabitants.   
(He narrowly missed Ryujin at one point by ducking into a bush. Miss Lia saw him but just contained a laugh and kept walking.) 

He was so busy he didn’t even notice Seungmin bring back Chenle and was about ready to collapse when the town clock stuck six and he headed home for dinner. 

Taeyong was plating up rice as he entered their small kitchen, glancing up with a smile.   
“Hey Mimi. You seen Lix?”

Minho frowned and shook his head. His older brother sighed and handed him a bowl as he sat beside WinWin. 

“He’s probably at Seungmin’s,” said the older faerie, untying his apron and hanging it on a hook by the counter. “I’ll go fetch him.”

He nodded and began a conversation with Jaebeom who was helping Chenle eat. 

Apparently Ryujin had also been in the bakery this afternoon whilst he’d been out to ‘check’ on him. 

“She’s so annoying!” Minho groaned, head in his hands. “I wish she’d just leave me alone... I’m not even into girls! She just can’t take a hint!”

Jaebeom chuckled.   
“Maybe you should pretend to date Seungmin to get her off your back.”

This made Minho choke on his rice and it took a few minutes of coughing (and WinWin smacking his back) to return to normal.   
“No thank you,” he croaked. “Seungmin is my friend.”

They heard the front door slam and Taeyong and Seungmin ran into the tiny kitchen with wide eyes, his brother clutching something in his hand. A small squirrel was curled up on Seungmin’s shoulder. 

“Yongie..?”  
“He’s gone.”  
The faerie looked close to tears and WinWin ran to give him a hug.

“What do you mean he’s gone?” Snapped Minho, panic taking over. “Felix? People don’t just vanish into thin air...”

His brother let out a sob and Seungmin gestured at the squirrel on his shoulder. 

“Renjun says he did. Saw Felix was out in the woods and he tripped and fell but vanished before he hit the ground.”

Minho bit back a sniping comment.   
If anyone else had said that, he’d have laughed in their face and given them a piece of his mind about upsetting his brother with a stupid story. 

But this was Seungmin. All elves could understand animals... and his friend never lied.   
Ever. 

He glanced at what Taeyong was holding and felt cold fear as he realised it was a tiny chick charm.   
Felix would never take it off... it was one of five matching bracelets that Mark had gifted them all before he got ill. 

A Fox for Taeyong, a Cat for Minho, a Chick for Felix, a Wolf for Jaebeom.. and another Chick charm for Mark himself that Felix wore as well. 

The squirrel was telling the truth.   
“Okay, Renjun. Show me where you last saw him...”

“No.”

There was instant uproar in the kitchen and Jaebeom half threw his chair back as he stood. 

“It’s too dangerous, Mimi,” agreed Taeyong. “We don’t know why Felix vanished.. and Renjun heard a scream.... which might not have been Lix,” he added quickly, seeing the look of horror on the others faces.   
“Me and Jaebeom should go.”

“No Mama!” Cried Chenle, running to grab Taeyong’s skirts. “I want you to stay here. No scary forest!”

“I’m going,” repeated Minho. 

“No, you’re not...”

“But it makes the most sense!” He argued back at Jaebeom.   
“Taeyong has WinWin and Chenle to look after - they’ve already lost their dads - and last I checked I was the only one with healing magic. What if that scream was Lix and he’s injured?”

Seungmin nodded his head.   
“As much as I hate to say it, Minho’s got a point.”

His brother opened his mouth to protest but Minho kept his eyes on Jaebeom, jaw clenched and back straight. 

“Please.”

The last remaining light in Jaebeom’s eyes seemed to go out and the elf turned away to the stairs.   
“Fine,” he called back, voice shaky. “Fine. But not tonight. Wait until it’s light outside at least.”

~

Minho didn’t wait for the others to wake up. He got up as the birds began to sing and the first rays of sunlight streamed through his window, nudging the squirrel that was curled up on a nearby cushion. Renjun yawned and jumped into his palm to climb onto his shoulder. 

He crept past Jaebeom’s room to the top of the stairs and winced as the old wood creaked under foot. 

Once downstairs, he grabbed a cloth bag and filled it with a few apples and some leftover bread. He looked around the kitchen one last time, smiling at the drawing WinWin had done of them all on the table and left. 

He’d barely gone two metres when he heard a voice behind him. 

“Minho! Wait!”

Taeyong ran out of the bakery, his dressing gown wrapped tightly around him and pulled him into a tight hug.   
“You really think I’d let you go without saying goodbye?” He joked, making Minho laugh. 

“You’ll find him, Mimi. You’ll find him and you’ll bring him straight back here. Okay?”

He drew back to look at his brothers face properly and was startled to see tears welling up in his eyes. 

“Taeyong..”  
“I’ve already lost Y..Yuta and Jaehyun,” his brother whispered. Minho was taken aback - no one ever mentioned his brothers partners. “We all lost Mark. I..I can’t lose you two as well.”

Minho smiled weakly and wiped away a tear.   
“We’ll be back soon. I promise. He probably just fell down a ditch.”

The joke fell flat but Taeyong smiled as though he appreciated the attempt at lightening the mood.   
“I’ll wait for you.”

Then Minho broke away from their hug and turned on his heel, heading for the forest with Renjun on his shoulder. 

It was a long walk even after he’d reached the forest and the sun was well up and shining down brightly as he followed the squirrel who’d jumped onto a branch and was running through the trees. 

It was pretty in the woods - Minho could see why Felix would come here - but he also felt slightly guilty.   
What had he done to make Felix not trust him enough to tell him?   
To tell any of them? 

Suddenly Renjun let out a high pitched squeak, his tiny paw outstretched and Minho hurried into a small clearing with flowers that towered over him. 

Definitely faerie magic. 

Spell books lay around the clearing and he picked one up, flicking through the pages. Pride grew in his heart... these were complicated spells. 

Another squeak made him look up at the squirrel that was now sat at a tree a little out of the clearing, and Minho ran over. The tree branches curved in a circular shape to one side as though they were a doorway and a patch of daisies grew in the shade of the tree. 

Remnants of the broken charm bracelet were littered in the flowers.   
He’d fallen here then. 

Minho glanced at the large tree root sticking out of the ground and then back up at the circular branches. The air shimmered as though there was lingering magic.   
Huh. 

He reached forward and gasped as his hand disappeared through the magic barrier, pulling it back quickly. 

Even when they’d left the Fae Realm there had been no barrier like this.. especially not one that would have tricked a faerie. 

But if Felix had fallen through it and hurt himself... he had to follow. 

Sighing, Minho reached up to pet the squirrel fondly.   
“Thanks Renjun. If I’m not back within a week or so.. actually. Don’t show the others. Okay? If it takes that long, I don’t want them coming after us.”

Renjun nodded and ran off into the trees leaving Minho to take a deep breath and step through the barrier. 

~

Wow.   
On the other side of the barrier was a sort of wintery wonderland, icicles hanging off frozen trees and fluffy snow that made Minho glad he was wearing his boots. He pulled his cloak around his shoulders, glad he’d thought to bring it, and looked around for any sign of Felix. 

His brother was nowhere to be seen. 

“Brilliant,” he muttered. So his brother had decided to go exploring... or maybe not. 

Minho spotted a trail in the snow like something had been dragged through it to a point and then it stopped dead. 

Scanning the snow closely, he noticed massive paw prints all over the place.. like a pack of animals.   
Only, he couldn’t think what animal had paw prints this big. 

Swallowing thickly, Minho began to follow the prints, leading him away from the barrier. He didn’t look back. 

As he trudged through the snow, he tried not to think of what might have happened to Felix and concentrated on finding him. 

It was slow progress and even when the sun had risen to the middle of the sky and he stopped to eat an apple, Minho could still see nothing but frost covered trees and the trail leading onwards. 

His breath fogged in front of him and he suddenly felt jealous of Taeyong’s fire magic - that would have been useful right now.   
But then again, at least his brother was nowhere near whatever made those footprints. 

He began his trek again. 

It was about an hour later when he heard the first howl of an animal echoing through the trees. Minho paused and glanced round for a sign of what caused it.. nothing but trees and snow gazed back...   
Then his blood ran cold. 

Fucking hell that was a big wolf.   
And it was staring straight at him. 

It stepped forward, it’s eyes wide as though it couldn’t believe a meal had walked into his path.. and let out another howl.   
In the distance, Minho heard a chorus of howls answer it. 

Fuck no.   
He didn’t spent the entire morning trekking through snow to get eaten now.   
He broke into a run. 

His legs shook with the effort as he pushed through the deep snow but he continued going, ignoring the howls signalling the pack was following him. 

He also ignored the fact that the wolves weren’t trying to catch up with him.. just following from a distance as though waiting for him to tire. 

His stubborn streak flared up.   
Those wolves could fuck off. 

Finally, as his lungs began to burn, Minho spotted polished gates appear in his path, high stone walls running from it in both directions as far as he could see. 

They were open. 

Yes.   
All he had to do was get to those gates.   
Minho forced himself to run impossibly faster and there was a startled bark behind him as the wolves figured out his plan. 

He refused to look at his attackers and kept running, chucking his bag of apples behind him when he felt one get too close, huffing a laugh at the shocked bark and the full thud of it hitting its target. 

With a final leap, Minho ran through the gates, swinging them shut behind him and a silver wolf hit them hard, falling over with a growl. 

For a moment he lay slumped in the snow, breathing heavily as the wolves jumped and scratched at the gates in annoyance.   
Then he pushed shakily to his feet and backed away, still watching the wolves. 

They all stared back.. and the middle one even reached a paw through the gate with a whimper.   
It was like they were sad to see him go.. 

Minho shook his head. No. They wanted to eat him. And he had got away. 

He turned around to continue on his way.. and stopped short. 

Holy fucking hell. 

The biggest, most impressive and spectacularly designed castle he’d ever seen was towering above him, an enormous staircase running up to a pair of gilded doors. 

He counted at least five turrets and seven balconies and hundreds of gleaming windows.   
But the strangest part was it felt almost.. familiar. As though he was coming home. 

Minho shook his head and started up towards the doors, knocking twice before he let himself in. 

He didn’t notice the eyes staring at him through various windows.   
And he didn’t notice the fox run up to the gates and let the wolves in.


	4. Chapter 4

Minho POV 

Inside the castle was beautiful.   
The entrance was massive, with white marble pillars and staircases leading off to various floors and rooms. 

A giant glass chandelier hung in the centre of the ceiling and silver entwined around the banisters to look like flowers and vines. 

The room was well lit thanks to the floor to ceiling windows on either side of the door he’d come through letting in the last rays of winter sunlight and a rich blue carpet ran down the centre of the stairs. 

But the beauty of the castle wasn’t what made Minho stop dead in his tracks. 

It was the fact that for some reason.. he knew this place.   
He knew that through the door to his right he’d find the extravagant ballroom, that the first room at the top of the stairs was a large sitting room and the small white painted door hidden door under the stairs led to the kitchens. 

Minho shook his head (he must be tired) and called out into the silence. 

“Hello? Anyone here?”

There was a clatter from a nearby room like something had been knocked over followed by a quiet hissing sound. He strolled over to the bottom of nearest staircase, peering through the doors. 

“Um.. hello?”

A black cat with white paws appeared round the side of a door and ran over to him, entwining around his legs. To his surprise, a tiny yellow fluffball was on the cats back and rolled onto the floor with a loud cheep. 

Minho gasped and bent down to pick up the chick before beginning to pet the cat, the animal starting to purr happily. 

“Awww hello! What’s your name..?” He reached under the cats chin to look at the collar but then recoiled in shock, dropping the chick that thankfully bounced on his thigh and rolled onto the floor unharmed. 

The charm on the cat’s collar was the same one he was wearing... the bracelet that Mark gave him. 

He didn’t have time to think about it too much though as the main doors swung open with a bang and one of the gigantic wolves that had been chasing him earlier raced into the room. 

Minho screamed. 

The wolf froze for a moment as if shocked by the noise but then slowly starting padding forward on near silent feet. 

He held his breath as it moved closer and closer, big brown eyes focused on his own as it did. When it was close enough that he could count each one of its razor sharp teeth, Minho screwed his eyes shut and clenched his fists. 

He could feel it’s breath on his face. Fear ran through his veins and he could feel himself shaking as the cats tail curled once around his arm before disappearing.

A golden light flashed behind his eyes making him wince. 

Then a hand touched his face. 

Startled, Minho looked up and his jaw dropped. 

“Felix?”

His brother laughed and hugged him tightly, blonde hair obscuring Minho’s vision for a second until he drew back with a grin.   
He reached forward and brushed a yellow feather out of Felix’s hair and suddenly remembered the wolf that had been about to eat him. 

“Wait what about the...”

It was then that he saw who was behind his brother. 

Two elves were sat in front of him, one with longish dark hair that curled around his pointed ears and the other with light brown hair and dimples as he smiled.   
Both wore charm bracelets on their wrists - one a cat and the other a wolf. 

“Y..Yuta and Jaehyun?!”

~ 

Minho couldn’t believe it as Yuta led them downstairs, holding tight onto his hand in case the elf disappeared again from his life. 

His head was spinning - they were ALIVE? 

He felt on the edge of breaking down from the overwhelming sense of relief at not being eaten and shock at seeing his friends again. Only Felix’s hand on his shoulder grounded him, made him focus. 

Although even that became useless as they stepped into the kitchens and Minho saw who was sat by the fireplace.   
His legs gave out and only Jaehyun’s quick reflexes stopped him from eating stone.

Hundreds of suppressed memories came flooding back at once as he looked around the room and the Fae all gathered there. 

His group of friends from school were the closest, San, Wooyoung and Lucas sat cross legged on top of the wooden table watching as Taehyung wiped blood off Jimin’s face with a cloth. 

Seonghwa, Hongjoong and Chan seemed to be making something by the oven, with the pixies (BamBam and Yugyeom) flitting around their heads like tiny balls of light. 

In a chair by the fireplace, Seokjin was reading to four kids all somehow huddled in the chair with him.  
Minho’s jaw dropped as he realised the two thirteen year olds must be Jungkook and Yeosang, the small eleven year old must be Haechan and YangYang (who Minho had last seen when the elf was a baby) was now around nine. 

Namjoon stood behind them with a smile on his face and squished up on the sofa with blankets were Jackson, Johnny, Yoongi and Hobi who were all shivering like they’d been outside for a long time. 

Ten was re-enacting the story being told with flailing arm movements that had Xiaojun and.. was that Innie??... bent double with laughter and Jinyoung was watching them fondly from his chair, sipping coffee. 

All of them looked up as he entered the room. 

“MIMI!” Cried San, jumping up to smother him in a hug, hair as pink as ever. The elf swung round to smile smugly at Jinyoung.   
“I told you he’d turn up as well!”

Jinyoung rolled his eyes and put down his coffee.   
“Sannie, I didn’t say he wouldn’t, just that it was highly unlikely.....”

“Oi Mimi!” Called another voice that turned out to be Jimin. “Were the apples really necessary?”

Minho frowned at his friend who was pointing at a nasty bruise on his head with a grin but then gasped, hands flying to his mouth. 

“That wolf was you?!”

“Yeah,” the elf winced as Taehyung pressed the cloth to his head again. “Sorry if I scared you earlier.” 

“No its fine.. wait. Can.. can all of you turn into wolves? And hold on, why on Earth are you guys all here when I couldn’t remember any of you? And speaking of...” he spun round to face Yuta and Jaehyun accusingly. 

“Where the hell have you two been the last eight years when we thought you were dead?”

Yuta’s face was unreadable but Jaehyun’s contorted with sudden pain. 

Minho looked away startled but then glanced between everyone’s faces confusedly.   
Jinyoung just sighed and gestured toward the table to sit down. 

“Minho,” he began. “You’ve got to understand that none of us had a choice in this.”

Minho frowned and opened his mouth to speak again but a look from Felix made him close it again. 

“We’re trapped here,” said Jinyoung. “Eight years ago, an Enchantress arrived at this castle and crashed a large masked ball thrown for the Prince’s birthday. She killed the King and Queen and cursed the Prince because... “

Here Jinyoung stopped speaking although his mouth continued to move, eyes widening as he reached up to his throat. 

Minho watched in horror as the elf convulsed, clearly in pain and Jackson threw himself off the sofa to Jinyoung’s side. 

After a minute, Jinyoung stopped shaking and the pain in his eyes died away leaving him breathing heavily and slumped into Jackson’s chest. 

“What the hell was that?” He croaked. 

Seokjin cleared his throat, gaining everyone’s attention.   
“I think I have an idea,” he said, swallowing thickly as though preparing himself. The elf quickly handed back the children on his lap to their various parents and even made Jungkook go stand next to his dad.   
“And I’m going to test it.”

“Um, Jin what are you..” began Namjoon but Seokjin had already turned to Minho and begun to speak. 

“We are trapped here until...”

Exactly the same as Jinyoung, Seokjin began to shake, mouth open in a silent scream before he fell back against the cushions. 

“MAMA!” Shrieked Jungkook but he was held back by Johnny while Namjoon lunged forward, face pale. 

“Jin? Jin! What happened..?”   
Seokjin came round and smiled weakly giving everyone a thumbs up that made Minho roll his eyes. 

Yeah. Same old Seokjin. 

“Well my idea was right,” coughed the elf, massaging his throat. “We can’t tell Minho why anything of this happened.”

There was an instant uproar of people asking questions and shouts of confusion. 

“But we told Felix yesterday?”  
“That doesn’t make any sense..”  
“Well if...” 

Ten cut off choking and Minho stood up from his chair. 

“Okay, Okay,” he said as the room returned to normal. “Please don’t hurt yourselves trying to tell me. So there was an Enchantress and now some Prince is cursed and you are all trapped here?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. And you all are turned into animals?”

Jimin nodded warily as though waiting for pain to appear. 

“During the daytime, we all turn into whatever animal is on our charm bracelet,” he said, holding his wrist up so Minho could see the wolf charm glinting in the firelight.   
“It’s a bit of a kick in the teeth really, seeing as we chose these ourselves...”

Minho felt his head twinge and then a sudden flash of memory... a basket of bracelets on the table... San grabbing a cat one for each of them... eleven year old Felix frowning and asking if there was a chick instead...

“I sort of remember,” he replied. “So you’re only normal at night. But why did Felix come here? And why didn’t you come home last night?”

Felix looked down at his hands and bit his lip. 

“Because once you get here, you’re trapped too.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: mention of blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so people in the castle :)  
> I’m going to put ages and animal forms here to help x 
> 
> Wolves:  
> Seokjin (30), Johnny (29), Namjoon/Hobi/Jackson (28),  
> Chan/Jaehyun (25)  
> Hongjoong (24)  
> Jimin/Taehyung (23)  
> Wooyoung (21)  
> Jungkook (13)
> 
> Cats:  
> Yuta (27), Seonghwa (25),  
> Minho (23), San/Hyunjin (22),  
> Yeosang (13), Haechan (11),  
> YangYang (9)
> 
> Foxes:  
> Jinyoung (27), Xiaojun (24),  
> Lucas (22), Jeongin (18)
> 
> Chick:  
> Felix (19)
> 
> Others:  
> Mark (30), Jaebeom (29), Younghyun (28), Wonpil (26)  
> Taeyong (27), Jisung (20) Seungmin (19), WinWin (10),  
> Chenle (8)

Minho POV 

It had been a week since Minho had arrived at the castle.

Although he’d guessed what would happen in the morning, he still panicked when he shrunk down to a black cat with a white stripe on his stomach. He’d hissed loudly, jumped a foot in the air and knocked into the table, falling to the floor. Around him, everyone else had also shifted to animal form, the kitchen full of wolves, cats and foxes with a tiny chick perched on the table beside the pixies. 

Jaehyun had picked him up by the scruff of the neck like a mother would with a kitten and placed him the giant cuddle pile forming by the fireplace.  
He’d curled around Felix (whose yellow feathers were extremely fluffy) and quickly fallen into an exhausted sleep with San and Yuta on either side of them. 

He quickly became used to the daily routine at the castle: sleep during the day whilst the wolves shared patrols and then waking as night fell to complete housework when they were Fae once more. 

Memories came flooding back over the week and he’d soon remembered nearly everything about growing up as part of the castle staff. 

He remembered completing sums at the table with Taehyung and Xiaojun while the older elves bustled around them, preparing extravagant feasts. 

He remembered Taeyong and Seokjin teaching him how to control and use his magic when Innie broke his arm. 

He remembered being chased by Jinyoung around the kitchen after he, San and Jimin pulled one too many pranks with the pixies. 

He remembered crying in the back garden with Chan comforting him when his parents had died from an illness when he was ten (that part was true).

He remembered laughing at Jackson’s jokes until he felt as though he would burst. 

But anything within six months of the ball where everything went wrong was a massive blank, his memory going from washing pots to travelling through woods with WinWin on his back like it had never happened. 

And he still had no idea of what had happened to Mark. 

The only time he’d asked Felix, his brother had opened his mouth only to get hit by the same excruciating pain that Jinyoung and Seokjin had felt and Minho had sworn then to not ask anyone anything else about it.  
It wasn’t worth it to see their pain. 

The other mystery was the elusive elf prince who lived somewhere in the castle. Minho had never met the young prince (he’d have only been 13 at the time of the ball) but he remembered the princes older brother, Younghyun, who had been friendly with the staff and had been the same age as Namjoon and some of the others. 

This prince seemed quite different.  
He never once came down to the kitchen or even acknowledged their existence... except for when Chan or Seokjin took food up to him.  
Minho might have felt sorry for the prince - had he not heard the elf swearing and yelling at Seokjin, the sound of his dinner plate hitting the wall. 

(Namjoon had gone upstairs shortly after.)

But he was kept busy enough to largely ignore the prince and began to get up earlier than sunset to browse the library for ways to send a message to Taeyong and Jaebeom. 

He knew his family would be worried sick but with the barrier, there was no way to let them know they were alive. Maybe they could eventually even join them... 

Yuta had followed him up one afternoon and been surprised to see him turning pages carefully with his teeth, tail whipping around irritatedly. Minho had half expected him to get angry.. to resent him for wanting to bring his brother so bad he was willing to curse them too but he just sat next to him and opened another book. 

The older elf (cat?) had muttered something about it being ‘safer’ now for their family but quickly changed the subject, asking for stories about his sons. 

Despite neither of them telling him, Minho knew Yuta was repeating the stories to Jaehyun and wasn’t surprised when the wolf volunteered for more day patrols... just in case Taeyong somehow found the barrier and came through. 

It was desperate.. but it’d been eight years. Minho didn’t judge him. 

For the most part however, Minho was enjoying being around his family of friends once again and could tell Felix was delighted to not have to hide his magic anymore. So much so, that he’d noticed the younger faerie sneaking off during the night when everyone was busy. 

Minho had shrugged it off (it wasn’t his business) but when Felix started coming back looking exhausted he decided to follow him.  
Whatever he was practicing, it was too much magic at once. He was going to make himself ill if he wasn’t careful. 

That’s how Minho found himself at the bottom of the marble staircase leading up to the West Wing, the old designated royal chambers of the castle.  
He’d watched Felix disappear up the stairs moments before, skirts swishing and blonde hair shining almost silver in the moonlight. 

Minho frowned and started slowly up the stairs, glancing behind himself every few seconds to check no one was watching him.  
For some reason, he suddenly felt as though he was doing something wrong. But if Felix was involved, then how bad could it be? 

He crept up the stairs and down the heavily decorated hallway, peering through doors as he passed for his brother but there was no sign of Felix.  
He eventually became to the end of the corridor where two double doors stood, a golden stag carved into them. 

The Elf King’s old rooms...  
...and presumably now the princes. 

Minho hesitated. 

Even though he didn’t like what he’d seen of the prince so far, he still wanted to respect the elf’s privacy.  
Otherwise it was just rude.. and he technically worked for the guy. 

But Felix had to be in there and Minho needed to know his brother wasn’t doing anything dangerous. 

With a deep breath, Minho opened the door and winced at the creaking sound. 

The princes bedroom was a chaotic mess, half broken chairs and desks scattered in the corners and a glass chandelier hanging lopsidedly off the ceiling above the smashed up piano.  
Old paintings lined the walls but the faces were missing like someone had ripped the paint off the frames. There was no light in the room save the moonlight coming in from the balcony from which Minho could see the entrance gate and where a large, round table stood with a flower displayed in a glass case. 

Minho’s nose scrunched up in disgust at the hideous mess that poor Chan or Seokjin would surely have to clean but then he saw them. 

His jaw dropped. 

Heart beating faster than ever before, Minho walked towards as though in a trance, drawn to the thing he half thought must be a hallucination. 

Standing by the round table on the balcony were three statues, horrifically frozen in place with faces of terror. Two appeared to be holding each other and Minho recognised one with a sick feeling in his stomach as Prince Younghyun who appeared to have his arms around an elf who looked scarily like Seungmin. 

But what made his gut twist with horror was the statue of a faerie in front of them, arms wide as though trying to protect someone or something. 

“Mark?” He whispered in disbelief. 

He stumbled backwards from the statue, knocking into the round table by accident. The glass case that was holding what he now saw was a red rose went flying and he lunged to catch it. 

A pair of small pale hands caught it first though and Minho looked up to see a shocked looking Felix as a terrible roar rang out across the room. 

Minho was wrenched to the side by a clawed hand that was clutching his shoulder so tightly it drew blood and then he was staring at a young face contorted with rage. 

The elf looked no older than Felix with longish orange hair falling in front of his eyes but his entire body seemed to be shimmering with some strange light. 

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Screeched the prince, brown eyes half wild with something akin to fear.  
“Get your pathetic ass out of my fucking room!”

Now if Minho was in a better place mentally to make decisions, he would probably have done just that... but he was still in shock from having seen his brother as a statue and was taking any of this princes bullshit.  
And his shoulder was starting to hurt. 

“Get your fucking hand off me!” He yelled back, startling the prince into doing so. “Now you may speak like that to Seokjin like that but I am not your babysitter so you’ll act your fucking age! I just came to get my brother!”

The princes eyes flicked between him and Felix with sudden recognition but then the scowl returned when he looked at the flower in the faeries hands. 

“So you decided to break my things whilst you were in here? That rose is worth more than your fucking life! Have some respect!”

Minho shoved him back, face red. 

“YOU have some fucking respect! I just found my brother who I thought was dead for eight fucking years and he’s standing in your bedroom like some garden ornament! I bet it’s your fault too! Tell me, was it being this much of an asshole the reason you got the entire castle cursed?”

He knew immediately he’d gone too far as Felix gasped behind him, putting down the glass case and the prince began to shudder. 

The elf shifted fully into a hulking wolf like beast, somehow twice as big as Jackson or Johnny and backhanded Minho across the room with a clawed paw. 

At least he would have, if Felix hadn’t jumped in the way and got smacked instead. The faerie fell limply into Minho’s arms. 

“FELIX!”

Minho screamed and pulled his brother into his arms, sprinting out of the room and through the castle. A loud howl echoed along the corridors after him. 

That.. that Beast had hurt Felix. He’d knocked him unconscious and cut a jagged bloody line across the faeries face. 

It didn’t matter that their friends were here.  
It wasn’t safe.  
He had to get Felix out of the castle. 

If Yuta, San, Jaehyun.. whoever wanted to see them, they’d have to come find them. 

Minho ran down into the entrance hall, grabbing a cloak from the stand on his way through the door. He ignored a voice shouting after him and hugged Felix tighter, angry tears running down his face. 

As he ran through the wintery grounds, someone lunged at them, trying to stop them but Minho dodged it and disappeared through the wrought iron gates and into the dark woods beyond. 

~

Jackson POV 

Minho dodged him, leaving him to fall bodily into the snow beside the basket and shears he’d been using to cut the hedges. Scrambling to his feet, Jackson went to run after them but was stopped by strong arms around his middle. 

“LET ME GO! THEY’LL GET HURT!” 

He screamed, struggling against the arms that held him fast, Jaehyun’s shouts also filling the air from where Seokjin was holding him back. Minho had long disappeared into the woods. 

Only one person was strong enough to keep him back though so Jackson didn’t have to turn to know Johnny was pinning his arms. 

“LET ME GO!”

“No,” said the elf, quietly, voice shaking slightly with the effort of holding him back. “You can’t go out there. You’re not a wolf. They’ll rip you to pieces...”

“MINHO! FELIX!” Shouted Yuta from behind him. 

Nothing answered him except for the soft sound of snow hitting the ground and the wind through the trees. 

Then....

A bone chilling scream rang out from the forest and Jackson’s blood ran cold as he glanced round just in time to see Yuta collapse in a heap on the steps and Jaehyun fall to his knees. Jinyoung stared back at him in horror. 

“That was Minho.” Whispered Seokjin.


End file.
